Arunners’ Dave races to 500 marathons

Lewis, 57, who is a member of Arunners Running Club, finished the event in 4hrs 18mins 36sec and said afterwards: “I’m very proud to have run all of the marathons I have done, and I just want to dedicate this achievement to all the other runners out there.”

Lewis has no plans to stop at 500, though, and added: “Marathon running is a hobby for me, I enjoy racing. I like the challenge, endurance and camaraderie. It’s not all serious work, heads down and concentrate. I run around 40 or 50 a year and I’ll continue to help encourage others.

“My first marathon was about 20 years ago, which was the London one. That’s what started it all off, and it just exploded from there.”

However, after running his first marathon close to home, Lewis has travelled far and wide since then.

He said: “I’ve run marathons all over the world. I’ve visited places like Hong Kong, Honolulu and Rio de Janeiro to name a few. But my favourite marathon is the Snowdonia marathon because of the hills, mountains and terrain. I’ve done about 12 of those.”